Wednesday, September 10, 2008

If you are in Ohio this weekend then Check out the Hot Licks Blues Festival in Granville Ohio. You can check out the website here.

Below is the lineup and bio information from the Hot Licks website of the artists appearing at the show.

2008 Lineup

12:30pm: The Patrick McLaughlin BandPatrick McLaughlin is an intense and gifted guitarist and his new power trio transforms the blues and places it in the mainstream. Clearly, Patrick McLaughlin is doing something right. Just 28 years old, he’s already well known in Central Ohio as a skilled bandleader, singer and wildly inventive guitarist with a hard-driving, steely sound. Since 2002, his 5-piece group has delighted audiences at blues clubs and festivals. This year, however, in search of new sounds and higher plateaus, Patrick has reformed his band as a trio. Joining him are veteran players Darrell Jumper (drums, vocals) and Manny Manuel (bass, vocals).Patrick's MySpace page

2:30pm: Hurricane Jerry and Stormfront

Jerry Loos started playing guitar in the late 1960's and has played in various bands since Junior High School. He began playing professionally while in High School. It was shortly after graduating that Jerry started giving lessons and continues teaching to this day. He authored a guitar instructional book called "The Jerry Loos Guitar Method" first printed in 1994. In addition to his teaching, Jerry has done session work for many years at local recording studios in Columbus Ohio. A versatile guitarist, Jerry has worked with a wide range of independent artists playing styles such as Gospel, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country, and others. Jerry enjoys many styles of music but plays mostly Blues/Rock based material in his own band "Hurricane Jerry and Stormfront". Over the last 10 years, "Stormfront" has done everything from club performances to private engagements, to small and large venues.

4:30pm: The Shawn Carney Band with special guest Gene Walker“The next big thing has already been around the block,” a Canadian newspaper reporter wrote of The Sean Carney Band’s impressiveshowing and subsequent victory at The 2007 International Blues Challenge, held in February in Memphis, Tennessee, explaining that Carney and his crew are no newcomers to Blues. The IBC is presented by The Blues Foundation, who also awarded 34 year-old Carney the Albert King Best Guitarist Award and Best Dressed in their 23rd annual competition, before an audience of 1,700 blues lovers from all over the world.

A Columbus, Ohio native and veteran of the scene, like Carney, drummer Eric Blume has been performing with Carney in Columbus venues for over a decade, backing blues and R&B artists Christine Kittrell, Hank Marr, Jimmy “T-99” Nelson, Willie Pooch, Big Joe Duskin, Joe Weaver and Johnnie Bassett.With new bassist, 2008 Blues Music Awards nominee Bill Stuve, The Sean Carney Band set sail with Taj Mahal, Tab Benoit, Jimmy Thackery and many others on The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise in January of 2008, followed by The Buckeye Cruise for Cancer in February and in March, The St. John Blues Festival in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Gene Walker is a world class jazz saxophonist, composer, band leader, recording studio musician, and educator. His art is rooted in the deepest traditions of jazz. He performs with clarity, sincerity and originality. With a zeal for perpetuating the art form through education, Mr. Walker conducts classes and seminars on the history and contemporary developments in jazz.

Teeny wrote the lyrics for 8 of the 11 songs on her second CD, titled “First Class Woman.” which can be heard in rotation on XM Satellite, Music Choice and Blues radio stations all over the country. Her songwriting abilities earned Teeny a place as a top-ten finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. Teeny is a two-time, top-three finalist in the International Blues Challenge which is held annually in Memphis, Tennessee.

In 2008, Teeny Tucker was invited to appear on the MAIN STAGE of the Monterey Blues Festival. She has been nominated for the “2008 Best Female Blues Artist” of the year by BluesBlast. Teeny’s newest CD “The Two Big M’s” was ranked in the 15 spot on the Bob Davis list of 2008 top 25 releases, and has reached the number 6 spot on the Living Blues Charts.

Cotton began his professional career playing the blues harp in Howling Wolf's band in the early 1950s. He made his first recordings as a solo artist for the Sun Records label in Memphis, Tennessee in 1953. Cotton began to work with the Muddy Waters Band around 1955. He performed songs such as "Got My Mojo Working" and "She's Nineteen Years Old." In 1965 he formed the Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet. Their performances were captured on volume two of the Vanguard recording Chicago/The Blues/Today! After leaving Muddy's band in 1966, Cotton toured with Janis Joplin while pursuing a solo career. He formed the James Cotton Blues Band in 1967. In the 1960s, Cotton formed a big blues band in the tradition of Bobby "Blue" Bland. Four tracks that are extremely upbeat and feature the big band horn sound and five stripped down traditional songs recorded are captured on the album Two Sides of the Blue.

In the 1970s, Cotton recorded several albums with Buddah Records. Cotton played harmonica on Muddy Water's Grammy Award winning 1977 album Hard Again. The James Cotton Blues Band received a Grammy nomination in 1984 for Live From Chicago: Mr. Superharp Himself!, and a second for his 1987 release, Take Me Back. He finally was awarded a Grammy for Deep in the Blues in 1996 for Best Traditional Blues Album.